Category: Food

Ingredients: for the cupcakes:

• 8oz self raising flour
• 8oz caster sugar
• 8oz butter
• 4 eggs
• Cupcake cases (standard size)

Ingredients for the icing/decorations:

• 230g unsalted butter
• 5-600g icing sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons of milk/cream
• 2-3 dessert spoons melted biscoff
• 1 packet mini eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla paste/extract
• 1 packet of fresh raspberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Beat butter and sugar together until soft and creamy. Then beat in your eggs. Sieve in the self raising flour until all ingredients are fully combined. Then place the mixture into the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 mins until golden brown. Leave the cupcakes to cool fully.

In the meantime, place the softened unsalted butter into a mixer and beat until fluffy (it should go a little lighter in colour.) Then continue to beat and slowly add in your icing sugar. Once fully combined add in the milk/cream and the vanilla. Split the buttercream into two separate bowls. In one bowl stir in the melted biscoff. Then using a piping bag, pipe your buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes and decorate with more melted biscoff and mini eggs.

For the other buttercream, blend half a punnet of raspberries until they form a puree. Then add this to your buttercream and stir through. Using a piping bag, pipe on your buttercream and decorate with the remaining raspberries.

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Ingredients:

• 1 courgette chopped into cubes
• 2 carrots chopped into cubes
• 2 red peppers chopped
• 1 sweet potato chopped into cubes
• 1 red onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 750ml vegetable stock
• handful fresh basil
• handful spinach
• 1/2 can of light coconut milk (optional)
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Chop the onion and crush the garlic then fry in the bottom of a large pot with some olive oil until soft.
2. Add in the chopped carrots, peppers, courgette and sweet potato to the onions, then add in the stock and leave to simmer for 40-45 mins until vegetables are soft.
3. After 40-45 mins, take the vegetables off the heat and add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, spinach, basil, salt and pepper and the optional coconut milk.
4. Then blend altogether using a hand blender.

Ingredients:

260g digestive biscuits

200g milk chocolate

100g dark chocolate

100g butter

150g golden syrup

1 family pack of Maltesers

1 large bar of Dairy Milk

Method:

Melt the dark and milk chocolate with the butter and golden syrup in a bowl over hot water. In the meantime, break/bash the biscuits until they turn to crumbs/smalls pieces. Once the butter mixture has fully melted, take it off the heat and add in your crushed biscuits. Then half your Maltesers and add them to the mixture. Place in a tray with parchment paper and place in the freezer for 1 hour.

After an hour, take out the mixture and melt the Dairy Milk chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate over the mixture and place in the fridge to cool for 1-2 hours.

Once fully cooled, slice into squares and serve.

Ingredients:

• 4oz butter
• 6oz caster sugar
• 2 ripe bananas
• 8oz self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• Chocolate chips (optional)

Simply mix all of the ingredients together and bake at 160 Fan for 1 hour.

Ingredients:

400g White Chocolate

Pistachios (taken out of their shells and chopped into smaller chunks)

Dried Cranberries

Method:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Then, simply melt the white chocolate over a bowl of hot water and poor onto the baking sheet, spreading evenly. Sprinkle the pistachios and cranberries over the chocolate and leave to set for a few hours. Then break and serve.

Ingredients:

250g  butter

165g caster sugar

165g brown sugar

335g plain flour

1 egg

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

Christmas Sprinkles

170g white chocolate melted

Method:

1. Beat the butter and 2 sugars together.
2. Then add in the egg and beat in.
3. Sieve in the flour & bicarbonate soda.
4. . Place on a baking tray with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 15 mins at 180°C.
5. When golden/cooked, take out and leave to cool. Once cooled, dip half the cookie into the white chocolate and place back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the sprinkles onto the chocolate and leave to cool/harden.

So this is a festive take on my usual granola recipe. Simply use my normal granola recipe and add in the following: 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon, flaked almonds, desiccated coconut, dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips. Bake and cook as normal.

Ingredients:

400ml Oat Milk

110g Dairy Milk/Lindt Chocolate

Extras: Nutella, Chocolate to grate, marshmallows

Method:

Heat the milk in a pot over a low heat for a few minutes until warm. Then add in the chocolate and stir. To serve, spread some nutella across the top of the cup and press some grated chocolate into the nutella. Pour the liquid into the cup and sprinkle some marshmallows and grated chocolate on top and serve.

Ingredients:

400g milk chocolate of your choice

Hazelnuts

Cranberries

Sea salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Once the oven is ready, place your hazelnuts on a tray and place in the oven for about 15mins. In the meantime, melt your milk chocolate. I recommend doing this slowly in a microwave and constantly stirring and checking it as it can burn very easily. Once the chocolate is fully melted, place on your baking sheet and spread evenly.

Once your hazelnuts area ready, take them out and place them in a dry kitchen towel and rub. This will remove the skin/coating. Then chop into smaller pieces. Sprinkle these on top of the chocolate with the cranberries and leave in the fridge to chill for a few hours. Then break and serve.

**Please note this is a mini cake and serves about 6 people. If you want to make a larger version, simply double/triple the recipe

Ingredients:

100g butter

400g milk chcoolate

5 large/6 average size tbsp golden syrup

250g digestive biscuits

For the decorating

Maltesers (2-3 family bags)

Nutella/Chocolate icing

White fondant

Holly (to decorate)

Method:

First, break/smash all the biscuits until they are small lumps/crumbs. You can do this using a zip lock bag and rolling pin. Melt the butter and golden syrup over a low heat. When the butter is half way melted, add in the chocolate, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is fully melted, take it off the heat and stir in the biscuits. From there, line a bowl (shaped as closely as possible to a pudding) and poor the mixture in. Smooth with a spoon until flat and place in the fridge for a few hours until fully solid.

Once your biscuit cake is solid, take it out of the parchment paper and place on your serving tray/dish. Then spread either nutella or chocolate icing all around the outside of the cake so that the maltesers can stick to something. Then stick the maltesers onto the cake. Roll out some white fondant (using dusted icing sugar to stop it from sticking) and shape into the top part of the pudding. Then place on top and use some holly/rosemary/berries to decorate.